Nick Flynt writes for TalkHoops and tweets entertaining, enlightening basketball nuggets at an alarming rate. This is his first post for ClipperBlog.
Archive for May, 2011
The Clipper turnaround and Eric Bledsoe’s value
On May - 30 - 2011
Two Teams, One City (Part 1 of 2)
On May - 26 - 2011
There is an air of finality which pervades over this Spring’s NBA Playoffs. Looming behind record television ratings lie the uncertainty of the new collective bargaining agreement, which has the potential to alter the league’s economic and regional power balance. On the court, the time for the heirs of Jordan seems to be coming to a close—as Kobe Bryant, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett—the men who once played against his aging Airness, prepares to leave the stage. Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and Dirk Nowitzki are poised to seize the throne, and right on their heels are the league’s youngest stars; Durant and Rose, eager to jump the line. For most Angelenos, the annual Spring basketball fever that grips the city have come to a premature and inglorious end with the Lakers embarrassing meltdown. And for some Clippers fans, the end of Phil Jackson’s era one week after Blake Griffin’s unanimous selection as Rookie of the Year has instilled hope that the ground is finally shifting between LA’s two NBA franchises.
Despite a down season, the Clippers can use Craig Smith
On May - 24 - 2011
Craig Smith may not be the key piece moving forward, but he undoubtedly has value for this Clipper team. 2010-2011 was a disappointing season for The Rhino, though, as he underachieved for arguably the first time in his career due to continual back problems. Smith was limited to only 48 games, the first time in his five-year career that he missed more than eight games. And with Blake Griffin’s impressive emergence and Ike Diogu’s surprising play, Smith found himself out of the rotation at times, averaging career lows in minutes (12.2), points (5.4), rebounds (2.4) and steals (0.3).
Clippers in same spot as Cavs win the lottery
On May - 17 - 2011
When the Cavaliers agreed to trade Mo Williams and Jamario Moon to the Clippers in exchange for Baron Davis (and the roughly $35 million left on his contract), they got a first round pick for their trouble. It was a wise strategy for Cleveland, and one that any fan should hope their team would pursue: absorbing an aging, mercurial Davis and the three years left on his deal for an extra ticket to the lottery. According to Clippers G.M. Neil Olshey and most talent evaluators, the pick would come in a particularly weak draft and likely fall in the range of eight through 12, but for the Cavs, it was worth a shot. For the Clippers, it was an opportunity to rid themselves of one of the worst contracts in the league at a time when Davis was healthy and had played nearly two months of high-quality basketball. If you assume that teams knew Davis was available, then Olshey found out what it would cost and then paid the price to move him.
On Tuesday, that price became significantly steeper in retrospect when the Cavs won the lottery with the pick they got from the Clippers. Olshey will not have the opportunity to draft Kyrie Irving or Derrick Williams, but that was the chance he was willing to take on February 24th. As he said after the lottery, the odds were never in his favor. From Lisa Dillman on Twitter: “We had a 97% chance of sitting here tonight with Baron Davis, the 8th pick in a bad draft and no cap flexibility.”
Who cares about the draft?
On May - 17 - 2011
Teams that missed the play-offs cross their fingers today, hoping that the ping pong balls for the NBA Lottery bounce their way. The draft holds an strong allure as teams and fans believe that the new selection will provide a building block for their team’s future glory. Each owner, GM, scout, player, writer, and fan gets to wish for ‘their guy’ to join the team. And the higher the pick, the more hopeful each of those people becomes. However, there is rarely a consensus and even at the top of organizations, disagreements occur because the draft is so fickle.